REGION 16 — Region 16 officials are determining the next step to take to deal with sprinkler system pipes that are rusting and rotting at Woodland Regional High School.
Superintendent of Schools Michael Yamin said the issue was discovered when a pipe in the school’s media center started leaking in May.
Between June 6 and Oct. 9, seven different sections of pipes for the sprinkler system have been repaired because they were rotting and some were leaking, according to a memo from Director of Facilities Stephen Martoni to the Region 16 Board of Education. The emergency repairs cost $18,313, the memo states.
Yamin last week brought a proposal to the Board of Education, which oversees schools in Beacon Falls and Prospect, to hire New England Fire and Security to “visibly inspect” the sprinkler system pipes to determine what, if any, areas need to be repaired due to rust and the cost to fix them. New England Fire and Security quoted a price of $12,696 to do the inspection at Woodland, and Yamin said administrators also want to have an inspection done at Long River Middle School.
Some board members raised concerns that $12,696 seemed high to pay for a company to just look at the pipes and report what areas are rusting.
“There’s something wrong for paying $12,000 on something that’s obvious,” said board member Priscilla Cretella, who questioned why the district’s maintenance personnel couldn’t do the inspection.
Yamin said the maintenance staff isn’t trained to inspect pipes and having them do the inspection would take them away from their other responsibilities.
The board didn’t make a decision last week. Yamin said he will bring different proposals to deal with the issue to the board’s next meeting in November. He said the system isn’t in danger of failing.
Issues with water and pipes at Woodland aren’t an uncommon occurrence.
Woodland closed unexpectedly for two days in January 2016 after a sprinkler head broke in the pump house causing it to flood. The flooding caused the drive that activates the main water pump that feeds water to the school to burn out, leaving the school without water.
Woodland students also got an unscheduled day off in February of 2015 when a sprinkler pipe froze and burst. About 10 classrooms, a hallway and a teachers’ office were flooded and damaged.
